Bumpers made of stacks of rubber plates are common in the art. They are used in a variety of places such as loading docks and pads for construction vehicle outriggers.
The stacks are usually quite large, consisting of from 8 rubber plates to as many as 50 or 100 rubber plates. In loading docks, for example, 50 or more rubber plates are threaded onto steel rods that extend several feet across the back of the loading dock. To make sure the plates retain their shape, they are often compressed between two steel plates fixed to the loading dock that are disposed on either end of the rubber plate stack.
The plates in each stack are typically fused together to provide longer life and better wear. To further enhance wear, the plates are typically compressed tightly between the angle iron or plates at each end. This prevents relative movement between adjacent plates and makes them collectively quite rigid.
Unfortunately, this rigidity is not desirable in many applications. For example, backhoe bumpers used to stop backhoe booms must be flexible in order to conform to the surface contours of a backhoe boom. They must also be flexible to absorb shocks when the backhoe boom is stowed and bangs against the bumper.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bumper for a backhoe boom that provides this flexibility and shock absorption.